If you head into the Play Store app, then tap on your profile avatar and tap on Play Points, you’ll get to where you can earn and use points. This is nothing new. What is new though is that under the Use tab, “Google Store” offers are now listed at the top. There are multiple options for spending your points and each one gets you a different amount off. Obviously the more points you spend, the more of a discount you get. Discounts start at $10 and go up to $200. With an option for $50 off and one for $100 off as well. This program also only seems to be showing up on mobile. At least when checking our account on both mobile and the web.
Google is testing Play Points costs for Google Store discounts
Google seems to be testing Play Points costs for Google Store discounts. Here’s what we mean by that. Based on the 9To5Google report, screenshots of this program show that 500 points gets you $10 off. The report also mentions that this program doesn’t seem to be very widespread at the moment. When checking both work and personal accounts, the program did only pop up on one. So it’s definitely not a complete rollout. The interesting part is that for our personal account, which this program was available for, getting a $10 discount costs 1,000 Play Points. Essentially, every discount for us has a point cost that’s doubled. 1,000 points for $10 off, 5,000 points for $50 off, 10,000 points for $100 off, and 20,000 points for $200 off. Could it be that point cost is associated with levels? So a higher level gets you the discount for less points? Not likely. When checking with another account that has Silver status, the points cost there was also lower than our account, which has Gold status. And judging by the color of the tab marker for 9To5Google, the account they used also appears to have Gold status. So it seems Google is testing different point costs to see what sticks.
Discounts are only good for 30 days
One thing to keep in mind before you go rushing to redeem your points for a discount, is that they don’t last forever. Just like Play Points themselves, a redeemed discount will only stay valid for a 30-day period. So if you claim it now but don’t buy something for 45 days, your discount will be void. The point being, don’t redeem your points until you plan to use them directly after. Or at the very least, soon after. You also can’t cancel a discount redemption to get your Play Points back. Once they’ve been spent, they’re gone.
